It's Nearly Time

Sadly it is almost time to say goodbye to the two Saddleback pigs I have on the farm at the moment. I have to organise a trailer and get my paperwork in order for tomorrow.

I have just brought the next set of weaners on to the farm which makes taking the older two a little bit easier to deal with because while I am looking after the little ones I am not thinking about the two that have gone. It works for me anyway but it is never something that I look forward to, enjoy or find easy to deal with.

I have never really been comfortable with the killing of animals for any reason and drifted in and out of vegetarian phases in my younger days. I think the first attempt at becoming a vegetarian was after buying The Smiths album and listening to Meat is Murder. Upon hearing Morrisey confirm the killing of an animal was death for no reason and death for no reason was murder my life as a vegetarian had begun to take shape .... unfortunately after many months struggling to find vegetable curry and breakfast without bacon tasty I decided that a vegetarian life was not really for me and so I started to think about how I could eat meat without the guilt trip it carried with it for me personally. This came about by me thinking of raising my own meat as strange as it sounds because that way I could ensure that the life any animal I raised for meat would be controlled by me and I could thereby ensure their life would be the best it could possibly be. In knowing that my pigs are raised the way nature intended without any growth hormones or cruel practices that routinely take place with indoor intensively farmed pigs I reached a place where I was happy to eat that meat.

This aside, the weeks leading up to the date that I take the animals to slaughter I still find terribly upsetting and I find it hard to think about anything else. I consle myself with the fact that they have had a great life that is not offered to many animals destined for the food chain. The first time I took animals to slaughter I realised just how much respect is required for the animal that in the end gives you everything.

So here I am at the saddest point in the journey that is home grown meat. I now need to get the papers and pigs ready so they can be transported.

I need to complete the BPEX forms (these are avilable online at the BPEX site) and email these to the Abattoir. The pigs will need to arrive no later than 10am in the morning. I will load the pigs on the trailer then ear tag them. I have always got someone else to do this for me just because I am a softy but I am going to try and do this myself this time ... lets see!! I will set off at 6.00am to get there before 7am which is the earliest I can unload them and then get them settled into their pen.

So it is a sad day but it is also makes me happy because I am standing for what I believe in and by doing what I do I am making a difference.

Complete Meltdown at Nunnery Farm Feeding Time Once Again

I am currently in the middle of potty training and so I have to listen out for my little one in the morning and as soon as he stirs I get up and he goes to the toilet. This is working really well with the only drawback being once Kyle is out of bed he is up and a fully fledged member of The Wide Awake Club. I am not and never have been and want to go back to bed. Not a chance! Kyle like a coiled spring all bouncy and loud we go downstairs ....... at 5.30am! Oh Yipeeee!

We had to collect my landrover from the garage because it had a service  so after going for my car once reasonable hour had approached we planned to feed the animals. I wanted 3 of the dogs in before I went out to do the feed because they are crackers and send me crazy with their stupid behaviour so Bean, Meg and Minnie were coming inside and not causing utter bedlam today. Yesterday I decided that the 3 idiots had caused their last bout of commotion whilst outside with me at feeding time.  I planned to grab Minnie first of all, then Bean and then Meg. It is normally an easy move. Then the sheep and pigs etc would be so simple.

Not a Chance!

Minnie out foxed me and ran down the drive. She does a silly walk when she gets excited - why? No idea. So then came the walk as she reared up on her hind legs and walked like a dinosaur.  Great Dane's are really strange. Once Bean saw this both Meg and Bean both ran off towards the pigs. Oh well they may surprise me and actually not drive me insane I got on with it. I had a couple of sacks of food to take down to the stable with so I got Kyle and we went to do the animals.

As soon as we step onto the path Minnie takes up her usual dinosaur/reptor stance. Bean also rears up and with both dogs on hind legs they do a sort of boxing but at the same time start making a stupid high pitch noise trying to grab each others necks - just annoying. It takes me all of about 2 seconds before I start to lose it and shout at them - they just completely ignore me - I'm getting more and  more annoyed and we have not even reached the stables. So with massive bag of food on one shoulder, 2 idiots playing Kangaroo Boxing in rings around my legs and a 2 year old half wrapped around my leg we hobble off towards the field. After walking for 30 seconds Kyle thinks it would really assist us if he was to be carried for the rest of the way. Not happening. I carry on holding his hand but then he stops and without warning does a flop onto the floor - this was still part of his wanting to be carried protest. After asking twice to get up I gather he is no longer talking to me so I carried on to the sheds. I empty food into the bins and got the buckets ready.

Usually if I am feeding without the dogs I can shut a gate to keep the sheep and lambs separate from the yard and the pigs are held back too so I can fill all feed bins up with their stuff and open the gates then they come in nice and quietly. No issues at all when I do them by myself everything runs like clockwork. Today was not such a day.

So back to the nightmare in hand. The pigs were now awake having been woken up by Bean and Minnie's constant barking. The pigs are heading over to the gate squealing and I can see whats about to happen because the dogs are all lined up at the gate to get them and I have not even sorted the food out. Meg then starts playing her own made up game Snap A Snout. In said game of Snap A Snout the rules appear to be that she barks constantly then sits right back away from the gate so the pigs think she has stopped then when she thinks a snout is within reach she lunges through the bars of the gate grabbing any pig snout she can. This sends Bean into a frenzy who starts to howl (again obviously necessary!) she is now in full-howl mode sounding exactly like a wolf. It is so loud now combined with the pigs squeals and Minnie and Meg's barking that I seriously cannot cope. We have achieved total meltdown. The sheep burst through the gate and are swirling like hornets jumping over each other and me and then push into the shed. Just brilliant -there was no getting this under any sort of control any time soon so I grabbed the sheep food and threw it down then just as Minnie had decided to take it to the next level and jump into the pig field I got to the pig gate first and grabbed her out of the way and got their food down. Minnie is back on hind legs at this time for reasons known only to her.

With my stress levels through the roof I cannot tell you how mad I was.

Never again will those idiots do any animal feeds.

I took Kyle's hand and we set off back to the house. He had been busy filling his pants up with stones from the driveway while I made a right mess of feed time and then thought it would make me happy if he climbed inside the coal bunker and rolled around covering himself completely with soot. It really helped. Off we went to do some jobs inside the house before my next animal job which was rounding up a sheep that had arrived in our field about 2 weeks ago, catch it, load it and then get it moved on.

This was going to be a breeze after what I had just done!

The Pig Field Gets Worse

This photo was taken a couple of days ago and the field still looks to have patches of green - these patches are reducing dramatically each day.

The two Porkers really have got to grips with rooting the field over looking for grubs and with the rainfall recently my trips in the field twice a day are starting to become a little tricky to say the least.

I am not looking forward to my winter feeding times one bit!

The pigs are doing really well and are growing by the day. Minnie has been taught a lesson and this morning decided she was going to jump over the fence at breakfast and cause her usual amount of trouble but this backfired when both Porkers ganged up and chased Minnie right out of the field. She was not amused.

It is times like this I envy those pig keepers with a lovely flat field!

The Rooting has Begun - Oh My Lovely Green Field !!!!

I believe I spoke too soon when I said that surprisingly the two porkers had not seemed to have done too much rooting around in the field ......

When I went to see them this afternoon before the rain storm me running inside for cover they had started well and truly got the hang of turning the field over ...

Wonder how long until it is completely turned over?

Pigs living a natural free range life.

I've Fallen for the Pigs - Oh No!!!

The pigs don't seem to be rooting the ground up too much at the moment which is a good thing although I doubt the field will stay looking green for long. I have noticed that they are having a bit of a root along the edges of the fence and in one place if it wasn't for the barbed wire that I ran along the bottom of the fence, I think they would have lifted the netting up.

I heard one of them coughing this morning which may be nothing but it can be a sign of worms. Pigs do need worming and so I will get some from the vets tomorrow. I will use an oral one that I can put in a syringe and squirt down the side of its mouth while its eating its dinner. Sounds easy - definitely wont be!! Then I will need to complete the medical records with all the details.

The pigs are really lovely and I have been spending lots of time with them. I am already rather attached to the pair of porkers who are funny and friendly which makes things so much harder. I would prefer them to be nasty but then that's pigs for you. They are inquisitive, happy, intelligent creatures and that is all the more reason why I stand so firm with my beliefs that there is no place for cruel indoor intensive farming in society anymore.

I have had a look at my diary to work out the date they will be going. It is important that they go around the 24 week mark and this is because they are not castrated males. There is a chance the meat could be tainted if the boys are left to fully mature so it is best to avoid this rather than take a risk with them. Now that I have the date noted down I can forget about it and enjoy having them around making sure they have the best life possible.

Meg, however, is not signing up to this respect everybody and everything policy that I have going on here at Nunnery Farm and prefers to sit motionless at the entrance to the pig pad every day taking her chances playing Snap at a Snout through the gate!

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Regulations After Movement

20 DAY STANDSTILL - PIGS ONLY

Once you bring a pig onto your holding (your farm) you will be under a standstill.

Nunnery Farm is now currently under such a standstill - this means that no other pig can come onto or leave Nunnery Farm until the 20 day period has passed. It also means my sheep or cows cannot leave for 6 days and other sheep or cows cannot come onto Nunnery Farm for 6 days

These rules are to protect against the rapid spread of any new disease and also acts as an incubation period and slows down the spread of disease

The standstill can seem complicated at first if you have other animals on your holding (farm) but if you just have pigs then you only have the 20 day period to remember.

However, if you have CATTLE, SHEEP or GOATS the a pig arriving on your holding will mean these animals will be under a 6 DAY STANDSTILL then after 6 days movement of these can commence again

Likewise if you already have pigs on your holding and you bring on the cattle, sheep or goats then the pigs only have 6 DAY STANDSTILL before they can leave the holding

You can always check with the animal movement on line with DEFRA.

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Pig Paperwork and Regulations

When I collected the Saddlebacks on Tuesday they were accompanied by a Movement Licence.  This is the document you will be given when you pick up your weaners. The seller completes Part A.

Your Haulier completes Part B
If you have gone to collect you weaners yourself this if you

The receiver of the pigs completes this.
This will definitely be you!

The seller will tear off the top copy (White) to forward on to his local authority animal welfare officer
The Seller will also tear off the second copy (Yellow) for his own records
The next 2 copies are for your records and are the papers that must travel with you when transporting the animal.
If you are both the haulier and the receivers of the pigs then you put both with your documents.

This document is a REPORT OF PIG MOVEMENT LICENCE

you cannot move a pig without one.

It is soon to come into force that all Pig Movements MUST be recorded on-line but for now a paper movement form is accepted. Your local authority will explain the changes to you should they have come into force when you get you pigs.

A bundle of these will be sent to you once you notify the animal welfare officer at your local authority of your intention to get pigs or the Inspector will bring them with him when he calls to see you.

Now pigs are back on the farm it is time to get all other paperwork ready and in a file labelled PIGS.
You will need a Movement Book. This can simply be a sheet of paper with headings that you create yourself on the computer (Free) or it can be a fancy 'Movement Book' from most agricultural suppliers (£5 approx).

When you get your pig unloaded and settled in his new home do the paperwork straight away and file your copy documents in your pig folder. It is so easy to say I'll do it tomorrow and forget and it really can become an issue if you cannot remember details asked of you later on. The tracing of farm animals in this country is a very important issue following previous disease outbreaks and the recording of movements is now a legal requirement.

So you have your copy Movement Document with you and this means you can fill out the first line of your Movement Book.

Your Movement Record requires the basic information and is for your records and so does not need copying or sending anywhere else.

The last document you will need to prepare and have ready in your file is the Medicine Records.

This is very important if you are keeping pigs for the production of meat.
There is a period of time after any drug is given to an animal (different for each drug) for human consumption called a withdrawal period. This information is found on the manufacturers information leaflet contained within the drug box or on the actual label on the bottle etc.
The medicine records require detailed specific information about the drug to be noted down.  This is important because before any pig can be taken to slaughter a BPEX form needs completing on line which requires all drug information from you.
It is much easier to complete these forms with the information fresh in your mind.

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Pig Area and Water

I just had one last thing to mention about the area that you finally decide your pig pen will go.


Please make sure this has accessible water running easily to it and when it is time to load the pigs for slaughter that you can get them into a contained area straight from the pen where the trailer can easily be backed into for loading without escapees!


I cannot stress this enough and I talk from experience.


When a friend first spoke to me about keeping rare breed pigs it seemed to be relatively easy to start - a bit of physical preparation work but after that it seemed simple and enjoyable. This is true if you listen to those that have done it before and got it right. Unfortunately I thought I knew best having  never kept a pig before, and set off full of enthusiasm to the agricultural suppliers, got all my posts and netting and set about putting the posts in the ground. I  chose an area on the opposite side of the field to where the pigs live now. I knew it had no water running to this patch but thought I would be able to bring them two buckets a day without it being a problem or run a hose pipe from the garden to the pigs and simply fill the buckets up and carry them in. In reality I chose this side of the field because it suited me better than it did them. Once the fencing was finished and the pigs moved in I think I lasted about a week  carrying two buckets of water down the slope to them twice a day. Then I decided to run a hose pipe which did not work as well as I imagined it to because the pressure of the water  that eventually came out after it had traveled so far was poor and they took ages to fill. 
I got frustrated so quickly with the whole thing because I knew this set up was never going to work. 


I began the task of starting to build a whole new pig area over the other side of the field which was located right next to the stream which would provide a constant source of water to them quite easily. This made life so much easier and enjoyable.


Another problem I encountered in the early days was that my pig area worked but there was an open space of about 300 yards that I had to somehow manage to convince the pigs to walk up without running off when it was time to load them on the journey to the abattoir. It was never easy. In fact it was a nightmare. I even tried to take the trailer over to them but I got the trailer stuck on the hill which made me even more stressed and fed up that it all seemed like too much trouble. I was always asking others for help to load and unload - or pull my stuck trailer out of my field with their tractor and because I do the farming by myself I knew if I was going to start enjoying this new hobby or in fact succeeding at it I would have to think very seriously about the planning of my field and making the system work for me.


I now have a system that works whereby I can bring the pigs to the gate and unload very easily on my own. I can take them through a shelter which has 2 pens that I can hold them in if necessary or treat them if they are sick or just need worming. This leads out into the pathway that leads me and them straight to their gate and into their pens. Loading the pigs will be easy and more importantly stress free for the pigs when the time comes to load because it has been planned with all the things that did go wrong in mind.

I wanted to make a specific point that basically smallholding and farming animals is great fun when it works and so rewarding. The extra bit of planning will make the world of difference to your pig keeping which should not be stressful but fun.

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Feed and Fencing Tips

I thought I would cover a morning feed and make notes of any useful tips for you. In relation to food there are generally 3 types for the 3 stages your weaner passes through to him finishing.
Sow and Weaner - whilst he is with mum
Grower - when you get him
Finisher - from about 15 weeks
I would visit your local agricultural supplier before your pigs arrive to let him know you are soon to be customers and tell him to order in the food you want.

You can buy a really nice shiny food storage bin to keep your pig feed in but I simply use a dustbin. It holds about 2 bags of food at a time and I have had no problems with this. I would say a plastic bin is better than a metal bin simply because in the winter months you don't want the lid to be frozen on the bin - things need to be as easy as possible during those freezing cold months so for me plastic is best. I keep my feed bins inside the pony's shelter which is close to the pig area but if your pigs are not close to a shelter then I would move the feed bin close to their pen again for your own benefit. In summer it makes no difference but in the cold wet and snowy mornings it helps and makes life easier.

Feedtime Helper

Buy a couple of plastic scoops just in case like me you empty a new bag of feed straight into the bin and then before you realise it your one and only scoop has been covered with 25kg pig food so two are handy!

Fasten your dustbin lid onto the top of the bin with an elastic rope which hooks through the handle on one side of the bin, through the handle on the lid and then down through the handle on the other side of the bin. From experience when the lid blows off in a gale and flies down the field its no fun going getting it back - that's if you manage to find it at all! If this happens during the night and your feed gets soaked and ruined - this is even worse so its a little trick to keep the food safe.

Get a couple of heavy rubber wide rimmed feed buckets with handles not too big that they may get their feet caught in. This will be cheaper to start with than a galvanised trough and you may find this method suits you and then you have saved yourself a bit of cash. The pigs may play with these after eating the contents but if you get the thick rubbery ones and not plastic they will not do too much harm.

Keep a couple of pen knives in separate handy places near the feed bins so when you have carried the food over to them you have some way of opening the feed backs without having to go back to the house.

A torch is handy - a specific pig keeping one in a place you know - not the household torch you can never find when you want it.

Fencing Tips

Any gates you put into the fencing opt for the fasteners that open by pulling the clasp rather than just a single bolt.  It will drive you mad otherwise in winter if its is frozen especially if you are loaded up with feed buckets! I have taken a photo of the fittings I use which work well.

Gate Fastener

Minnie is also in most of these photos! I have also taken a photo of the fencing section which shows you exactly how I fasten the netting to the post and you can also see the barbed wire that runs along the ground to stop the pigs getting their snouts under.

Barbed Wire and Post fixing

This photo shows the barbed wire running along the top to keep Loonpot Libby at bay. This is not for the pigs benefit just simply to keep the pony away so if your don't have any other animals then this may not be necessary.

Top Roll of  Barbed Wire and Libby

Here is the water system that I have put in between the two pig areas. It has an overflow pipe at the back which runs back into the stream.

Other items which you may think you will need:

Slap boards and sticks - not unless you want to show your pig. They do come in handy when moving pigs but to be honest I have always took my time and walked the pigs on to the trailer with a bucket of food. So these are not really needed.

Your pigs will need to be tagged with your pig mark when they go for slaughter - I will cover this when I have to do mine but if you are a small pig keeper like me all you need to buy from your animal supplier are some metal ear tags and a pair of tagging pliers.

Ear notchers, slappers and paste, tattoo pliers, teeth cutters, tail dockers, nose rings - you will not need any of these.

Last but not least as I have found out very recently it is a good idea to transport your pigs in a trailer. Get a good second hand one - there are lots about just shop around.

Guide Price for Equipment
Pigs x 2 £30 each
Pig Arc - £300
Hay bales - £2-3
Feed Trough - £30 (2 x rubber buckets £7)
Drink Trough £30
Pig Board £30 - not needed in my opinion
Pig Pliers and tags £20 plus 60p per tag

NOW ALL YOU NEED IS THE PIGS

Morning Pig Feed and Hello to Meg

Pretty happy to report that Libby was returned to the field with the sheep after a long cooling off period in the garden yesterday and surprisingly Minnie has been keeping away from the pigs. I think the roll of barbed wire that has now been placed along the top line of the pig fencing has a lot to do with that and not Minnie turning over a new leaf!! At feeding time last night Libby was content with her own food and even when the two porkers made an appearance and started eating their food Libby just watched them and quietly went over to the gate for a closer look. She didn't seem to have any issues at all with the pigs so maybe things are starting to finally calm down for a day or two!

Dave stays well away from the Sheep

So this morning I set off to do the morning pig feed. It turned into everyone getting fed and I suspect that the sheep and Libby are set to get 2 meals a day from now on! I had lots of helpers on hand which included me, Kyle aka Chief Helper, Minnie, Bean, Molly, Meg (she came purely on the off chance that she may be able to get her nose under the gate and bite one of the pigs faces) and Dave who went as far as the entrance to the field but then thought better of it and sat under the fir tree watching with Daisy (I'll tell you about her another day).

Meg

Meg who I dont think has made an appearance on the Nunnery Farm Blog as yet is our resident Border Collie with issues. She would love to be an only one and is definitely a one man dag. Unfortunately for her she lives with our 4 other dogs, cats and now Dave. Meg doesn't like most things. She doesn't like going for a walk, she doesn't like her lead, she doesn't like going in the car in fact she doesn't like change of any sort. She doesn't mind the sheep but that's because they leave her alone but she hates Dave because he doesnt, he thinks that she is his friend. She cant believe he didn't leave when the puppies left because she spent 8 weeks growling at them.She doesn't like the cats or Libby and any chance she gets to bite Libby's feet she does. Now the pigs have arrived it is something else for Meg to dislike and she has already shown signs that she is not too keen. She has developed a habit of lying still next to the pig fencing or the gate and whenever the pigs come over to her she lunges as far as she can and tries to bite their snouts.
Meg spends her days either enjoying a sport known as Frogging where she sits absolutely still, completely motionless for hours and hours on the edge of the pond looking in the water at  frogs she has seen jump in. She sits there every day during the frog season without fail and without catching a frog but doesn't seem to mind. When it is not Frogging Season she does exactly the same but lies on top of a wall overlooking the field and a rabbit hole just waiting for one to come out. So Frogging and Rabbit Hole Watching are the two things Meg does enjoy.

We are not sure whether she likes this or not

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Housing and Feeding Utensils

PIG HOUSING can be quite a daunting decision - they are all pretty pricey so the last thing you want to do it is to have to replace it in a years time.

There are many types of pig arcs and the easiest ones to be honest are those that come flat packed. They are easy to assemble and are much easier to get into place before you start fixing them together.

I have had 2 pig arcs in the time I have been keeping pigs and the reason the first one didn't last too long was because I did not raise it slightly off the ground.

Pig arcs are sold with or without a floor. I would always choose an arc with a floor. The idea of not having a floor is great you can move it around the field whenever you like but in my experience after a couple of months enjoying free range outdoor life you have no field - its all churned up into a lovely piggy mess so its going to stay in one place realistically and that is why the way you position it on the ground is terribly important. If you are putting your pigs on flat ground then I would say all you had to do was lie it on railway sleepers or thick wood equal distance apart so that when the ground gets wet it doesn't seep into the wood and ultimately rot. The slope on my field meant that my pig arc never stood a chance when the wet weather came because I did not have anything to raise it up slightly allowing the water to run underneath. Lesson learnt the hard way!

The two most common types are the triangle arc and the wooden hut with a corrugated roof. Some say the second is cold in the winter and warm in the summer. I disagree.

My first arc was a triangle shape and was a great arc - until I ruined it! This time I have an 8 x 4 wooden hut with a floor and two doors fastening at either end with a corrugated metal roof. The reason I say this will not be cold in the winter is simply because my pigs houses are stuffed with straw - they love nothing more than to burrow right down and wake up in the morning with straw all over their heads so provided you give them plenty of fresh bedding you should be able to choose either without too much worry. Its a personal choice.

The size of arc you need roughly is

8x4 for 2-4 weaners to pork size (roughly 24/26 weeks)

If like me you intend to produce one set then slaughter and get another set on then this is an ideal size. You don't need to go too big, the cost of the straw to fill it will increase and the pigs really do like to be snuggled up. They are lazy sleepy creatures of comfort!

The next size up is 8 x 6

This is for approx 3 fully grown pigs or 10/15 weaners. If you intended to get your pigs for breeding then this size of house would do the job but only until they were due to farrow

Once your girl was about to farrow she really would need to be moved into a bigger hut and one which you could easily move about inside so this would ideally have a pitched roof. You would need regular access to check on the litter and also the height to be able to safely hang heat lamps etc over the mountains of straw she would expect!

They are really the basic sizes and styles. There are plastic ones around now and probably very nice fancy ones but I have found the traditional wooden arcs in both styles have left me without complaint.

Shop around before you buy and speak to pig people, clubs and societies, fellow smallholders and even try going direct to manufacturers even abroad - the cheaper prices even with the courier charges can still be much cheaper than buying in the UK.

In my opinion a purpose build wooden arc is the best way to go. It should be sturdy and built using strong pressure treated timbers.

The bedding should be straw but even though it seems easy just throwing it in the arc it does need to be sweet smelling when bought and used and kept free from dust and mold. I find it difficult to store bales of straw at Nunnery Farm so I am unable to benefit from buying in bulk but on the other hand the straw I use is always fresh and clean.

Pigs must have access to fresh water at all times (apart from mine who had a bucket between them over night until I fixed the plumbing - but it was a temporary measure. Pigs drink an incredible amount of water and unfortunately no water canister or bowl or trough which if left free standing is going to remain upright for more than 2 seconds so the best way is a static self-filling water system similar to the system I posted about in the earlier Planning Stages. It should be plastic - pigs will cut themselves on metal drinking utensils and the plastic pipe should be well out of reach of that inquisitive snout!

Feeding utensils - a rubber trough or a galvanised one which is easy to move and clean - you don't need any extra work on those snowy wintry days - you want to be able to pick it up, fill it up, put it down and put your hands back in your pockets!!

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Planning Stage 2

The area where your pigs are going to live should now be the main concern and the fencing and housing that you will all need before they arrive.

You can see from the photo the fields I had to deal with when I decided to get my first pigs so if I can construct a pig pen on this slope anyone can do it!

I found that the best approach would be to prepare two areas side by side and fence them off from each other leaving a gap of approximately 7 foot in the centre of the two fields. The pig ark sits here but has doors which fasten at each end thereby giving you a spare field which you can rotate to when you felt the current field was due a rest. I tended to use the same field for 3 sets of weaners and then swap for the 4th pair. If you have a gate which opens into each area then it is two separate fields with an adjoining house! This system saved me lots of messing around worrying about preparing another area especially with the slopes that lie on our field I was sure that one lot of pig fencing was going to be enough! I have tried to choose a photo which shows the house in the middle and the fields either side with the gate.

As for the fencing I use 3 inch round 5.5ft  posts knocked in to a depth of 2.5ft with a strainer post about every 4th post along to create tension. This is absolutely necessary with pigs - they will amaze you just what they can do with their snouts. I use galvanised pig netting and use the roll with the biggest hole at the top. You want to nail the smallest end to the bottom as this is where the nose will be most of the time. I use round 3" nails to secure the netting on every other post with the corner posts being supported by a strainer on each side. I also run a single length of barbed wire along the bottom of the pig fencing on the inside of the pen. This really does prevent your pig undoing all your hard work. A pigs snout is extremely sensitive so he will only bump into it a couple of times and he will know to stay away from your handy work!

My field had a stream running down one side so I have put in each side a self filling plastic bath it is specifically for having between two fields so it fit under the netting and there is a bowl on each side of the fence so they have water whichever side they are in. This is not a difficult thing to do provided you have a water source not too far away. I have simply used 3" connecting blue plastic water pipe from the stream fastened securely underwater back along the ground in a little channel connecting all the way in pieces to the drinkers and then an attachment allows both the pipe and the bowl to be fastened together. Provided my stream doesn't dry up then my pigs should be ok! It may sound daunting for those who have never done things like this before and there is no one who panics more than me when faced with a new task but all I did was go to the local agricultural suppliers and explain exactly what I wanted and the man came back with all the bits like magic - they have done it lots of times before so are a good source of guidance in these early months.

Practical Pig Keeping for Beginners - Planning Stage 1

As I have just got the pigs back on Nunnery Farm after probably 2 years I am sort of starting from scratch again myself and so I will post each step as I go along which may be of help to anyone thinking about getting some pigs and producing their own pork. This Label will include every step from deciding where they would live to the final collection of the meat from the butchers - so anything in between that I do with the pigs I will post for you.

The beginning of the smallholding journey begins when you make the decision to get your pigs. I will only ever rear outdoor free range British rare breed pigs. The main reason for this is that as well as it being an enjoyable experience you will be producing your pork the old fashioned way, the way nature intended. Traditional breeds such as TAMWORTH - SADDLEBACK - BERKSHIRE - GLOUCESTER OLD SPOT - LARGE BLACK - MIDDLE WHITE AND OXFORD SANDY AND BLACK reflect our rich heritage and strong reputation for outstanding pork.

So you have to decide which breed is for you this time, I like to change breeds from batch to batch others stick always to one breed. I think your decision with rare breeds depends on what breed is available at the time and the distance involved - pigs are terrible travellers. Rare breed means that your particular breed is not available just now. The British Pig Association is a good start for breeders but there are lots of websites where you can get hold of a couple of weaners relatively easily. The cost should be around £30 each for a 9 week old weaner. The cost for a rare breed that can be registered and possibly shown will rise dramatically from that price up to maybe £70. As you are buying purely to fatten it doesn't matter to you whether it will be show quality. It also doesn't really matter whether you choose a boar or a gilt - just never get one by itself. Pigs are very social creatures.

Phone your local authority and speak to the animal health department. Tell them you are to embark on a smallholding journey and tell them what animals you will be keeping. They will give you a HOLDING NUMBER - this is personal to your smallholding. They will then give you a Pig Number which again is only for any pigs that are reared on your smallholding. If you had sheep and cows you would get separate flock and herd numbers for each type of animal but the HOLDING NUMBER is the same no matter what animal you are moving. You should get a visit from a local officer who should be more than happy to talk you through the various stages and what is required from you and give you lots of information to read and consider about the adventure ahead.

Next the physical work!

The Pigs Are Coming Back!!!

Well its all very exciting here today as my new pig area is almost complete. The pig ark however is still flat pack and in a pile which I keep walking past hoping its put itself up the next time I pass. I am quietly confident however that all will be ready for the two Saddleback boys I have arriving this evening. It has been some time since I had pigs on the farm mainly because I put the old area up by hand and it didn't take them too long to destroy most of the fencing and then the house fell apart so I have completely started again from scratch. The boys are 14 weeks old so a little older than normal but it means the sausages will be ready sooner! I still have to collect these two in the back of my Landrover so we may still encounter problems! Things will be much easier once I find a little trailer!
Apparently if you produce your pork right the pigs completely pay for themselves so I am about to compile a Pig Accounts file and note down all my cost to date and see if in a few sets of pigs later they are starting to make me a profit!
I have to make a "Free Range Pork Sausages Coming Soon" sign for the bottom of the gate too!

The Luddenden Four Have Gone but Dave turns a corner!

Well Dave has truly amazed everyone by how well he has improved and continues to improve on a daily basis. He has been adopted by Bean our Newfoundland with the assistance of Minnie the Great Dane. He is a fully fledged member of the gang and I feel it is going to be quite a task to get him to go back into the field!